Erotic Pets and Metapoetic Dildos in Marcus Argentarius, Anyte, Meleager, and Catullus

Abstract: This article argues that Marcus Argentarius' epigram on Myro's dead grasshopper and cicada ( Anth. Pal . 7.364) provides an obscene interpretation of Anyte's model ( Anth. Pal . 7.190) by transforming Myro's paignia ("playthings") into sex toys. Like Catullus (2, 3), he builds on Meleager's eroticization of Anyte's poem in Anth. Pal . 7.195, 196, 207, as well as Herodas Mimiambs 6 and 7, which combine the themes of metapoetic dildos, female poets, and the Demeter/Persephone myth. Finally, I show that an acrostic ( ALIA , 7.364.1–4, "fruitless, idle") ties together the poem's erotic and metapoetic themes.